Sara's Birthday Party

 (Hallie got to open a couple of belated bday gifts, which worked out great.)

 Sara loved her cupcake.

 And then she scoped out her presents with Gigi before opening them.

 She got lots of fun things, including a Rapunzel doll (she's been coveting Hallie's since May).

And a Rapunzel dress (notice a theme here?)...

And the Big Hit:  a Rapunzel wig!  Sara literally wore the thing for the rest of the party and continually swished it over her shoulders.  She was thrilled.

 And we were all very amused...

What's funnier than a long golden wig on your three-year-old?  A golden wig with a Cat in the Hat hat on, of course!

We finally convinced her to tie the hair back for ease of present-opening.  But she sure wasn't taking the thing off.

Several of us tried on the hat.

The youngest party guest...

Recipe Swap

I sent the below email this morning and then realized that I have an even wider treasure-trove of brilliance in my friends and family who read this blog.  So, I'm inviting y'all to participate as well!  Please either email me or post a comment with your ideas, and I'll post the recipes in one (hopefully long and information-laden) blog post next week...

Hello!

Trying to make my weekly menu the last few weeks has had me really scratching my head for new ideas.  So, I thought I would ask some of my brilliant friends and family members if they would be so kind as to give me their go-to recipe ideas so I can add them to my repertoire.  If you're willing to play along, please reply with a quick-fix type of dinner recipe (kid-friendly is an extra plus) that you've made a few times.  Doesn't need to be anything fancy--in fact, simple is better.  Next week, I'll compile the replies and then send it out to everyone who sent a recipe so we can all have another recipe to use.  If you already know all the recipes you need to know and/or don't have time to play along, just delete this email and we'll pretend it didn't happen.  :)

Love to all of you!
AKH

Family Portrait